


Nobody reads conditions

by LeRien



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF), Youtube RPF, youtube - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, M/M, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-09 22:04:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8914678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeRien/pseuds/LeRien
Summary: In a world where everyone has special abilities, some people, deemed too powerful, are hunted by the Organisation agents. Phil and Jack are two of these agents. Dan and Mark are two of the hunted. When the bridges meet, together, they will maybe be able to change things for the better. If Phil and Jack can overcome their conditioning...





	1. Condition 1: The Organisation is Right

**Condition 1: The Organisation is Right**

 

“What do you mean, _extreme situation_?” repeated Phil in a worried tone. “I thought it was a regular case of burglary.”

“Turns out the suspect was a five-star researched criminal.” Jack bracingly replied while scanning the folder on his hands. “Recidivism, terrorism, pyromania, blimey.” He blinked. “You sure you didn’t see it coming? He sure seems like a nutcase, that one.”

“You know my psychic powers are not totally reliable.” Phil grimaced, trying not to sound too hurt. “I can see possibilities, probabilities if you will and-“

“Yeah, I know buddy.” Jack looked up and smiled. “I didn’t mean to blame you. Numbers are against us on this one.”

Phil sighed. It was hard to hold a grudge against the empath, Jack always knew what to say to soothe you.

“No, you’re right, I _should_ have seen it coming. A five-star… Does he have shield or psychic-based capabilities?”

“Nah, he’s more of a material kind if you catch my drift.” Jack answered, deep in reading. “But he’s suspected to deal with bigger guns – psychic mafia, the whole rebellious gang – so it’s understandable. It’s a miracle we caught this dude at all.”

“ _How_ did we catch him?” Phil wondered out loud.

“PJ sent Tyler.”

Phil winced. Tyler, also known as the Ice Queen or the Executor, was easily the most powerful agent of the Organisation. The most conditioned and merciless one too.

The two agents stepped into the elevator that immediately started to descend.

“So what is our suspect’s power?”

“Wanna guess?” teased the green-haired man.

Phil jokingly glared before closing his eyes. As his thoughts focused, warmth, barely bearable, submerged him.

“Fire” he chocked. “Something to do with fire.”

“Very good, we have a fire controller and creator.”

“That sounds like a five-star all right.” Muttered Phil as the elevator stopped in the basement.

At moments like these, Phil almost hated his job. It wasn’t exactly his dream job either. At the beginning, he had applied to the Organisation to be with PJ, his best friend. As a psychic, he had been almost assured to be hired.

He used to love his job, Phil remembered. It had been almost too easy to plan agents’ intervention on criminal groups when he already had a healthy head start. Things had started to get weird a year ago.

“Why do we hunt them?” Phil had eventually asked PJ one day. “I mean, some of them are in nasty stuff but most only struggle only to live.”

“They’re too powerful.” PJ had answered at once. “Power goes to their head and it’s just a matter of time before they explode. Only conditioning can change them. You know that. Nobody wants great-scale terrorism again. We’re helping them even if they don’t know it, and protecting our society. We do it for the Greater Good.”

The mere memory of PJ’s passionate voice and enflamed look still gave Phil the creep. It had probably been the direct cause of his request to become a field agent. It was feeling more real there. More legitimate. He had been paired with Jack, an Irish, good-natured and overenthusiastic empath.

Being with Jack had helped a lot of course. He always knew how Phil felt and seemed to understand his doubts. More than that, he seemed to genuinely want to help people. When PJ thought that there were means to an end, Jack just cheerfully always did his best.

“Phil?” Jack’s voice shook Phil from his thoughts. Feeling his uneasiness, Jack smiled again. “Look, I know we never handled a threat that serious, but we’re awesome, right? It’ll be fine.”

Phil slowly nodded. “Yeah.”

Breathing hard, he steeled himself and prepared himself to enter the interrogation room.

“What’s his name, again?” He asked, opening the transparent door.

“Dan Howell.” Jack said, making the boy in the room look up.

The first thing that came to Phil’s mind was how _young_ and _scared_ Dan was looking, sitting tightly on his bed. He was definitely younger than him, twenty-five or less. It was hard to think that this frightened-looking boy could be a terrorist.

But as quick as a glance, the look of fear was gone from Dan’s face, replaced by a deep scowl for their benefit. Gangly, embarrassed by his fireproof suit, Dan looked like a sulky teenager.

Unabashed, Jack sat on a chair, next to the table. The room was well-lighted thanks to its transparent walls. You could see other prisoners through them, in their own glass box, looking indifferent or bored, headphones on their ears. _Conditioning_ , Jack thought. Looking back to Dan, he spoke kindly.

“Hiya, Dan. I’m Agent Sean, this is Agent Lester. We’re here to ask a few questions.”

Dan’s scowl increased if it was possible.

“I’ve nothing to tell you.” He mumbled.

Jack looked at him with curiosity. He didn’t detect fear from him, not exactly, more like a sense of claustrophobia. The boy was feeling trapped, more than threatened or in danger.

“The sooner you open up, the sooner you can get out of here.” Jack continued and looked at Phil for support.

To his dismay, Phil was looking stunned, his eyes slightly wide, staring at Dan without seeing him. He was feeling deeply uncomfortable and out of his depth, a feeling Jack had come to associate with visions from the future. Resigned – why Phil’s power decided to kick in _now,_ Jack had no idea, but he could hardly do something about it -, he turned his face back to Dan, who was watching Phil with mild interest.

“We have reasons to think that you had contact with powerful people, bad people.” He said. “You can help us to find them before they hurt anyone else.”

Dan sneered, making Jack frown. He had rarely felt so much bitterness in one person.

“Does this bullshit usually work?” Dan asked. “Do the others fall for it?”

Jack blinked. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Sure you don’t. You’re the good guy, right?” Dan cocked his head to the right and suddenly burst into a short laughter. “Oh my god, you actually think you are.”

Jack tried to hide his puzzlement and immediately knew he was failing abysmally. Dan’s bitter amusement was increasing by the minute. He started to talk very fast.

“This is all a lie. A scam. You must have seen it. They’re just scared of us. Would invent anything to get rid of us. To condition us. You _must_ see it. We’re just. We’re just trying to live in peace.”

Something unsure stirred in Jack’s stomach. For the first time in who knows how long, his conditioning and his instinct were fighting over Dan’s words. Dan’s voice rang of truth, of sincerity. The lad was convinced of what he said. And yet…

“You’re wrong.” Jack said. It was the only possibility here. If Dan was not lying, he was wrong, blinded by false promises of the Rebellion. “The Rebellion conditioned you, as we conditioned our own. You can’t tell the truth from the lie anymore.”

“The Rebellion doesn’t condition.” Spat Dan. “That’s your job. The Rebellion helps us. It lets us free. It lets us _exist_. They could help you.”

“You’re wrong.” Jack repeated but it was no good. Dan’s body language was too obvious not to be noticed. He was telling the truth. Jack had never considered a life without conditioning. It felt like a blasphemy. All his previous cases had been subjects to conditioning. They had rebelled or rejected it but never had he met someone without conditioning. Someone… pure.

Until now.

“You’ve never been conditioned.” Jack murmured.

Dan looked as if he had been caught and pressed his lips together.

“The end is near.” Phil said suddenly, breaking the silence.

“What?!” Jack turned. “Phil, are you alright?”

“The end is near.” Phil repeated. He nodded as if he had heard a mysterious voice and had agreed. “It’s the only way.” For the first time, he seemed to really notice Dan’s presence. He blinked. “I trust you. It’s the only way. End it with fire.”

“What- What do you mean?” Dan breathed, forgetting to even look spiteful.

“End it with fire.” Phil repeated.

Then, he collapsed.

Jack sprang out.

“Phil? Phil! Oh my god, Phil, buddy, look at me.”

Panicked, he lifted up his head and made eye contact with the prisoner in the next box. It was an Asian guy with a fiery red streak in his hair, his head slightly up from his bed, looking interested. _He shouldn’t be that interested_ , Jack thought, _the conditioning should-_

And just like that, he wasn’t in his body anymore. He was in the man’s mind, and he _knew_ everything. Everything that had been or was. He _knew_ it all. It felt so overwhelming and so liberating, at the same time. He blinked and he was back in his body again, breathing a bit harshly. _What had just happened?_

Shaking his head, he bent back to the unconscious Phil. He resolved to carry him in his arms and quickly transport him outside, careful to lock Dan in before leaving.

At a loss, Dan looked at his neighbour whose name, Mark, was neatly labelled on his own suit. Nodding politely, Mark lied back down on his bed and tried to go back to sleep, ignoring the familiar buzz of the conditioning in his ears.

 _“Felix”_ he thought, closing his eyes. _“I think I found our guy.”_

 

**_To be continued_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if I will be able to continue it but it was in my head so. Yeah. Please forgive my bad English, I'm not a native speaker. Feel free to leave feedbacks, it keeps me going. :)


	2. Condition 2: Never trust your powers

**Condition 2: Never trust your powers**

“Are you quite sure he’ll be alright, Doctor?” Jack anxiously asked again.

“ _Yes_.” MatPat answered for the umpteenth time in an aggravated tone. “He’s just suffering from a lack of conditioning. Quite commonplace for psychics, you will find. And it’s _Professor,_ not Doctor.”

“Gotcha, Doc.”

Trying to repress his annoyment, MatPat looked over Phil, lying on the glass coffin below them. This caisson was only ever emitting high frequency waves, way more intense than the ones used for usual conditioning. It was lucky that Phil was already unconscious when he was brought or MatPat would have had to use his power to dose him, thing that he hated to do if he could avoid it. There were times when he could not help it though, since the Organisation forbid any kind of pharmaceutical drug and conscious patients in the block were suffering unbearable pain.

Sometimes, he wondered what would have happened if he had refused to use his powers at the infirmary after being caught. He eyed at the caisson again, slightly ill at ease. He did not really want to know.

“Go back to your quarters, Agent.” He sighed. “Agent Lester will be fine by the morning. I’ll suggest you have a rest and… try to get things off your head too. You had a tiring day.”

“Freaking understatement of the year.” Jack grumbled as he recalled the sentence, once arrived to his studio. Located in the third-class agents’ residence, Jack’s apartment was small and quite decrepit but he had succeeded in making it cosy and comfortable and was quite satisfied with it now. He knew Phil had a better flat – due to his earlier years as an office agent, probably – and somewhat felt bad about it but Jack had never resented him in the slightest.

Looking longingly at his fridge – he was _dying_ to have some steak and guiness pie but he knew from experience that eating before conditioning was a bad idea -, and lied down on his bed, took off the headphones which hung on the wall while setting the conditioning waves and put them on his ears. Another downside to be a third-class field agent: mandatory conditioning, every day of the week.

Once again, the fleeting realisation of the unfairness of it all crossed his mind. If his power had not been so strong, so invasive, so _dangerous_ , maybe he would have been able to be promoted way more quickly, like Phil had been. Phil could foretell the near future, a power with one of the lowest danger rank and it may have played in his affectation. Jack, on the other hand, as an empath, had been closely watched from the very beginning of his training, ready to be kicked out at the first “manipulation tendency” he would have displayed. Even now, few people really trusted him. That was why he was grateful to have Phil as a partner: he never considered him as a potential threat or as an … unreliability. He hesitated a few seconds. As relaxed as conditioning made him, he always felt despite a certain reluctance beforehand.

His rebellious and bitter thoughts were swiftly discarded, however, as the well-known buzz started. Staring at the ceiling, Jack felt himself falling in a familiar demi-conscious state. He was here and already gone somewhere else, transiting between the present moment and the one right after it, his mind floating in nothingness and at the same time, aware of his surroundings with a terrible accuracy.

He was one with the universe, whole and all, and he was nought.

_“Can you hear me?”_

Jack turned his inner eye to the origin of the stranger’s voice. It sounds insignificant to him at the moment, but he was curious, all the same.

_“Please, go to sleep.”_

He did not want to sleep. Sleeping during conditioning was possible, if counter-productive. When conditioning gave you purpose and peace, sleeping through conditioning produced restlessness and the inching feeling that something was missing. Not to mention that it made the conditioning pretty useless. Instructions were very clear: you had to be conscious for conditioning.

 _“Please.”_ Said the voice again and Jack felt distinctly another mind probe his own.

 _“Stop that”_ he thought. _“Let me be.”_

 _“Go to sleep.”_ Repeated the voice before summoning the image of one of the cell of the basement. If Jack had been in control of his body, he would have jumped. But conditioning nullified your ability to move, you could barely think. The cell he had seen was the one next to Dan’s, whose prisoner has impressed Jack so much, as he had been fussing over Phil.

 _“The man who knew everything.”_ Thought Jack.

He hesitated one second. It was enough to tip his decision. With effort, he went under, turning off the hyper-consciousness the conditioning provided and tried to sleep.

 _“Thank you.”_ He heard vaguely before his mind was filled with darkness.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, he was lying on the ground. Or what appeared to be the ground. He was dreaming, of course. A blond guy was smiling down at him, from a black chair.

 _“Dream walker”_ thought Jack. The Organisation itself had some of those: people whose ability was to enter other people’s dreams. Deadly useful as spies, to pass through messages without being detected. It was a two-edged sword though. It was very nearly impossible to detect felony if the traitors counted one dream walker in their ranks. Because of that, dream walkers were carefully monitored and conditioned in order not to use their power unless specifically asked to by an agent of the Organisation. Jack was surprised this one succeeded in breaking the rules. The Organisation was not joking with treason risks.

“We need your help.” Said the guy. “Mark told me you can help.”

“Mark?” repeated Jack uncertainly.

“Yes.” The blond stranger pointed out to a picture next to Jack’s head that the empath had not noticed. “Mark.”

Sitting down with difficulty, Jack examined the picture. It _was_ Dan’s cell neighbour. The flaming red in his hair, if anything, was an unmistakable giveaway.

“Who are you?” murmured Jack.

The stranger smiled.

“The name’s Felix.”

“What do you want?”

“Your help to set Mark free.”

“I can’t do that.”

Felix’s stare hardened slightly.

“You can. You must.”

“You are part of the Resistance.”

“We have many names.” Answered Felix indifferently. He then hesitated. “Look, I don’t know you but Mark seemed to think that you would be willing to help. We need your help. We are not enemies. All we want is… to set everyone free. Not to be ashamed, controlled, treated like weapons. We don’t want to be forced to hate ourselves anymore.”

Jack looked at him. There was truth – troublesome truth – in Felix’s words, he could sense it. Deep inside him, he also knew that he resented to be seen as dangerous and unreliable.

“We can’t trust our power.” He whispered.

Felix didn’t say anything but the pity and compassion that Jack felt washing over him were explicit enough. And there was something more. Something radiant that he could feel deep inside Felix’s soul. A spark he had never felt in any agent of the Organisation.

“I can… try to help.” He said slowly.

“That’s all we asked.” Felix promptly replied, looking relieved.

“I just have a question.” Blurted Jack before he could help himself.

“Yes?”

“How can you… I mean, they – the Organisation – they are watching dream walkers!”

“Ha.” Felix smiled. “You see, there is a little loophole in their conditions’ phrasing. They forbid dream walkers to use their power at their will. But I am not a dream walker.” The smile became a bit sad. “I am a dream maker.”

* * *

Jack woke up with a start. As he had expected, he was feeling restless and nervous. Feverishly, he got up and started to pace around the room.

He was not sure what to do. But he knew two things. They were not decisions, exactly, he simply knew what he had to do: he was going to get Mark out of here; he was going to need Phil’s help.

* * *

In his caisson, at the limit of consciousness, weird visions were still passing in front of Phil’s glassy eyes. Future, present, past, it all seemed to agglomerate in an indescribable mess of noise and light. And everywhere, Dan’s face, always. A buzzing sound was resonating, making his head hurt. He tried to repulse his visions with all his might.

After all, he could not trust his power.

 

**To be continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure I like this chapter tbh. But well. I'm trying to publish one chapter a week but I'm not sure if I can keep up on the long run.  
> Don't hesitate to comment, it motivates me. A huge thanks to anyone who had on the previous chapter.  
> Once again, sorry for my poor English, don't hesitate to point out mistakes.


	3. Condition 3: Free will is a lie. Do what is right.

**Condition 3: Free will is a lie. Do what is right.**

“This is impossible.” Phil flatly said.

In front of him, Jack seemed to deflate. His permanent smile wavered before reappearing full force.

“You don’t really believe it.” He replied confidently.

Phil only sighed in frustration.

“What I believe or not is not relevant. The fact is: this is impossible. No one escapes the Organisation. Ever.”

“Unless they have help from inside.” Piped Jack quietly.

Phil decisively turned on his heels.

“We’re not having this discussion.”

After a few steps without hearing Jack behind him, Phil gave up and turned around. Jack was frowning slightly, seeming a bit puzzled.

“What.” Phil deadpanned.

“What happened to you?” Jack shook his head and blinked. Phil managed to avoid laughing; Jack looked like a bewildered puppy. “You never used to have so much… doubt. It’s like you’re constantly fighting against yourself.” He shook his head once again but this time, Phil didn’t feel like laughing. “What are you so scared of?”

Phil’s jaw clenched. Jack rarely commented on what his empathy made him feel but when he did, it was only for very strong emotions. For a few seconds, the black-haired man felt incredibly angry at his colleague. _How did he dare? Using his power on him?_

The fleeting resentment dissolved as quickly as it has appeared and Phil’s shoulders slacked in defeat. It was Jack. He was probably only asking because he was worried. Moreover, he didn’t peek on his emotional state on purpose.

“I don’t know.” Phil answered genuinely. “It just… I have a kind of… intuition? But it feels so _wrong_. Everything feels so wrong these days. As if my powers were… broken.”

Without realising it, his eyes had fallen down on his hands. They were badly shaking. _Even my body is betraying me_ , Phil thought.

Jack’s hands suddenly covered his and Phil lifted his head to meet his work partner’s compassionate eyes.

“They are not broken.” He declared with confidence before engulfing him in a hug without warning.

After a moment of hesitation, Phil returned the hug, feeling confidence and reassurance gradually warming him up. He suspected Jack to use his power unconsciously but didn’t say anything. It felt nice.

“Do you want us to drop the case?” Jack asked. “I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s just…” He shrugged and smiled.

Phil opened his mouth to agree. Later, he would _swore_ it was what he intended to do. But instead, he heard himself say: “We shouldn’t let the universe or some superior hypothetical entity decide for us. Decisions are our own. If you think something’s right, you should do it.”

He blinked. It was wrong. They were not his words. Somebody else said that, somewhere else, at another time. _Too soon_ , he thought. These words were pronounced too soon.

Jack did not noticed his confusion, or if he did, was tactful enough not to comment on it.

“I think it’s the right thing to do.” He simply said. He chuckled. “I’m not sure _why_ though. But a voice in my brain keeps telling me that Mark can’t be wrong.”

Phil raised his eyebrow.

“First name base, I see?”

“Shut up.” Mumbled Jack, his ears red.

Ignoring the uneasy feeling in his stomach, Phil continued to playfully tease his friend.

He shouldn’t put so much weight in his decisions. It wasn’t like free will really existed, after all. Absentmindedly, he texted PJ.

* * *

 

Mark was waiting. He was used to it. Someday, it felt like he had been waiting for all his life. Humming to cover the burdening of the conditioning in his ears, he looked over the next cell, watching Dan restlessly turning on his bed in his sleep.

 _Soon_ , Mark promised himself. He was glad Dan was still strong enough to resist the conditioning and to allow Felix to put him in this unsatisfying sleep. Most prisoners gave up after a week, out of fatigue and annoyment. But not Dan. It was a good thing. Dan was important.

Mark knew that, like he knew most things. It had been obvious when he had seen Phil (well, _Agent Lester_ , but soon he would be able to call him Phil) stagger in his presence. Scratch that, it had been obvious even before that, when Phil had entered the room, when Dan had been arrested, when Mark had opened his eyes for the first time. It was all mean to happen.

Sometimes, Mark wished he didn’t know everything. Such knowledge was both scarily vertiginous and frustratingly limited. He _knew_ and he couldn’t act on it. He _knew_ but he couldn’t guess what will happen next.

He closed his eyes, and tentatively tried to get a glimpse of the future. The future was the only thing Mark couldn’t know for sure. He only knew the infinite possibilities of the future. Even for him, it was too much and he tended to block out this part of his mind. Once again, he only went as far as trying to get a hint for the next night before recoiling, dizzy. Tonight would be the night of the escape, he was almost sure of it. The numbers were running high. But the outcome was a complete mystery to him. It depended on so many parameters.

“So many chances to go wrong.” He muttered.

_“That, my friend, is why we, poor mortals, resign ourselves in what we call ‘wishful thinking’.”_

Mark smiled.

“Hi, Felix.”

 _“Hello there.”_ Felix’s humour was perceptible, even as an incorporeal voice in Mark’s head. “ _So tonight is the night?”_

“It could be.”

_“Great. Because our little friend may not survive to another night without rest.”_

Mark sighed.

“And the others?”

_“Emma is on the verge of breaking. Tom hasn’t answered me for a while now.”_

Mark nodded. It was what he had expected – what he had _known_ – but he couldn’t help but hoping.

 _“They’re not going to make it, are they?”_ Felix said quietly. _“They’re not going to escape.”_

“We can’t know.” And this was perfectly true. They couldn’t. “But no, I don’t think so. It would already be a miracle if Dan and I make it without damages.”

Felix stayed quiet for a moment.

_“It is so unfair.”_

It was. Not that they could do anything about it. Mark didn’t bother telling that to Felix. The blond man already knew that.

It always came down to this, didn’t it? _Knowledge_.

_“So? What do we do?”_

Mark starts humming again. He knew Felix would interpret it correctly.

 _“So we wait_.”

* * *

 

 _It wasn’t right_.

Jack tried not to think about it. But he couldn’t shake off the feeling that infiltrating the prisoner basement had been too easy.

 _It wasn’t right_.

It wasn’t like he had a plan to begin with. To be honest, this whole escaping scheme had not been exactly well-thought. He had just known it was the right thing to do. But now, he wasn’t sure anymore.

“Don’t you- Don’t you get the feeling this is too easy?” He whispered to Phil.

“I don’t know.” Even murmured, the uneasy tone was distinguishable in Phil’s voice. “I expected more- more obstacles. I guess.”

“It’s like this place isn’t even guarded.”

“Well.” Phil reasoned. “The cells are unbreakable, aren’t they? Psychic-proof and all. They don’t really need surveillance. Organisation agents aren’t supposed to-“

 _To be compromised._ Phil shut his mouth. It was almost too painful to admit it. A part of him knew Jack was right. Worse, this part had always thought this was going to happen one day. But the other part…

“It feels so wrong.” Phil confessed. “Like going against years of careful learning. And at the same time, I think we should have done this earlier.” Frustration and worry were building up in his chest, fuelling his words. “And deep down, it’s like I know we are going to fail.”

“We are not.” Automatically responded Jack, but he didn’t sound really sure.

Phil opened then shut his mouth. Dan’s cell was in sight and he felt simultaneously the need to cry in joy and to throw up. _It wasn’t right_.

“Let’s go.” Murmured Jack.

When they stopped in front of the cells, Mark was sitting on his bed, clearly waiting for them. Once again, his sole presence destabilised Jack. He was _there_ and _looking at him_ and _everything felt so clear_ -

“Stop it.” He snapped.

Mark only smirked.

“Apologies. I don’t do it on purpose.”

Phil eyed them nervously.

“Do what on purpose?”

“Nothing.” Mumbled Jack. “Let’s do this.”

_It wasn’t right._

As soon as he touched it, the door of Mark’s cell opened. Sighing in relief, the man took off his headphones.

“Thank you, it was getting annoying.”

Jack stared at the headphones, uneasy.

 _“Cells are programmed to open to Organisation agents and only to Organisation agents. Prisoners are forbidden to take off their conditioning headphones unless an Organisation agent had entered the room.”_ Everyone knew the rules but it had never occurred to him before this day how _sloppy_ these rules were. Somehow, it offended him a bit.

“Okay.” He said, disgruntled. “Let’s go.”

“Wait.” Phil said. Jack turned his head. Phil had locked eyes with Dan. Dan displayed nothing but curiosity and defiance. Phil looked totally lost.

“Dan is coming with us.” Phil blurted out without quite intending to.

Jack gaped at him. “It wasn’t the plan!”

“I would agree if we had indeed a plan.” Phil pointed out.

Decisively, he opened Dan’s door. As if he couldn’t believe it, Dan sat on his bed and slowly took off his headphones.

“I’m not leaving you behind.” Phil informed him, stretching his hand to help him stand up.

When Dan gripped his hand, visions rushed again in front of his eyes. It was too blurry, too fast to identify anything but Dan’s face.

“I’m not leaving you behind.” Phil repeated again. And horror filled him as he realised something. “Oh no. Oh my god. Dan, I’m so sorry, I never meant-“

“Phil?” Jack’s voice sounded alarmed.

“We have to go now.” Declared Mark’s rough voice. “They’re coming.”

_It wasn’t right._

“Phil, what have you done?”

“I’m sorry.” Phil said piteously. And he was sure Jack believed him because the guilt he was feeling was overwhelming. “I- I didn’t- Dan, please, don’t-“

Visions were still filling his head, almost completely cutting him out of reality.

“What’s happening to him?” Dan’s voice felt so distant but he still could make out the worry in it.

“He warned the Organisation you planned to make us escape tonight.”

“He _what?_ ” There was such betrayal in Jack’s voice.

 _It’s not like that_ , Phil wanted to say. He had done it without even thinking about it. All it took was a quick text to PJ. _So easy. Frighteningly easy._

 _It wasn’t right_.

“What do we do?”

“Dan, do you feel like you can… solve the situation for us?”

“I… can try. But if the Ice _bitch_ -“

“The Ice Queen won’t be here.”

“But what do we do about… Phil?”

“I can carry him. He’s in too deep to be useful.”

“How do you know that?”

“I know.”

Phil let them talk. It almost didn’t make sense to him.

“He betrayed us.” It was Jack again. He sounded so hurt.

 _I’m sorry_ , thought Phil. _I’m so sorry._

“It’s not his fault. Hardcore conditioning does that to you.”

Two strong arms picked Phil up. He started. He hadn’t noticed he had fallen.

“I’m so sorry.” He muttered again.

“I know.”

This was the last thing he heard before everything went dark.

* * *

 

When Phil woke up, the first thing he saw was Jack drowsing at his side.

“Jack?” He croaked.

Jack started and stared at him.

“Holy shit, you’re awake.”

“Yes. I-“ He grimaced. “I am.”

“You’ve been out for almost a week.” Jack confided. “I- I was angry at first but when you didn’t wake up, I started fretting. I panicked, man. I was scared shitless that my buddy partner was dying on me.”

Listening to him, Phil’s eyes wandered around.

“Where are we?”

“Felix’s house. Oh, right.” He added, seeing Phil’s confused look. “You don’t know Felix. He’s the coordinator of the Rebellion. One of the coordinators anyway. I think. I didn’t quite follow.”

“Right.” Said Phil as if he made sense to him. He closed his eyes. “So… we made it, right?”

“… Yes.” Answered Jack after a silence. “We made it. It was a really close thing too. Dan- Dan lost control at the end.”

It almost hurt to hear this name, Phil realised. _If only he knew why_.

“Control on what?”

It was so hard to focus and to try to understand.

“On his power. He nearly burnt us all alive.”

Phil reopened his eyes, trying to get a good grasp on reality. He was lying in a soft bed, the walls around were a faded pink and Dan was fidgeting in a chair next to him.

“I’m sorry I betrayed you.” Phil said.

“It’s okay.” Jack promptly replied. “Well, no, it’s not.” He corrected. “But Mark explained us, you were not yourself.”

“Yes, I was.” He countered. “It’s just…” He didn’t know how to explain it. How _right_ and _natural_ it had felt to send this text.

“It’s all so stupid.” He muttered. “We were stupid. We didn’t plan anything, we just-“ _We did what we thought was right. We did what we thought we had to do._ “I- I don’t know why we did this. It’s… it’s scary.” _I don’t know who I am anymore_. “I was so sure we would fail, you know. I never even thought what we would do if we succeeded.” _And the scariest thing is I don’t think I ever knew._ “It’s all so stupid.” He finished lamely.

Jack hummed in agreement but Phil was sure he was just humouring him.

“You know.” Jack said. “I still don’t know why you insisted in making Dan escape too.”

Phil shrugged.

“I mean, it’s a good thing since he’s the one we have to thank for our lucky escape but I don’t know what they will do with him. He doesn’t seem to be interested in Felix’s plan, doesn’t talk to anyone, doesn’t seem to belong here, really. Not that we do.” He added. “But I don’t know. It’s weird. And people treat him weirdly too. Apparently, it’s because he was never, you know, conditioned. People have a hard time, trying to wrap their head around it.”

 _I knew all this_ , Phil realised. _I knew it would be this way._ Had he seen it? In a vision? Maybe.

“Is he really important to you?”

“He’s important. I think. I don’t know. But I couldn’t let him there.” He groaned. “We are so fucked up. It’s like we don’t understand ourselves. It feels like we’re being manipulated, all the time. It’s just- It just feels like a giant lie. Our choices are lies. Our free will is a lie. We just _do things_ we were programmed to do.”

Jack’s smile softened.

“Somebody told me once: ‘We shouldn’t let the universe or some superior hypothetical entity decide for us. Decisions are our own. If you think something’s right, you should do it.’”

Phil’s groaned. “Okay, now I’m sure I only told you that because I had a vision of this moment.”

Jack laughed.

“So who’s the first who said it, you or me?”

“I don’t know, it’s giving me a headache.”

Jack continued laughing. He eventually calmed down.

“But you were right, you know. I don’t know why we did this. I don’t even know how it makes sense that we did. Maybe it doesn’t. But we did what was right.”

Jack smiled and despite the rest, Phil felt himself smile too.

“We did.”

_It was right._

**To be continued…**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, the plot feels so awkward. I know where I am going, but it does feel wobbly.  
> Anyway, thanks for all your comments and a special thank you to FantasyChild9. Your comments made my day!


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